Arts & Entertainment

Best Local Impresario St. Louis 2005 - Steven Fitzpatrick Smith

St. Louis Post-Dispatch society spectator Deb Peterson has referred to Steven Fitzpatrick Smith as "one of our town's favorite gadflies," but that's so inaccurate. Gadflies are merely politely tolerated. Smith runs the frickin' show. While his Hoosierweight boxing series continued to stage matches by and for the layman, and his Panda Athletic Club continued to give cheap (and often free) boxing lessons to overachieving youngsters, Smith took civic good works to the next level this year with the opening of his bar, the Royale (see "Best Neighborhood Bar [City]"), where the man himself serves mixed drinks made with fresh juice and working-class pride.